Internet Addictions
by TADAHmon
Summary: One late night, a certain football-headed kid gets online and it starts a weird chain of events.


Internet addictions.  
It had been six years since Arnold had found his parents, safe and alive, living with the Green-eyed people... Every year since, he had spent at least two weeks in the summer with his grandparents. This year, things would go a little different on his visit.  
  
If it was the excitement of the trip or seeing his grandparents and Gerald for the first time in a year, who knows, but on the first day back in Hillwood, Arnold found it impossible to sleep. After spending at least an hour tossing and turning, he finally sat up in bed. The sheets were all over and his hair was equally wild-- wilder than usual-- and he just plainly couldn't sleep. He yawned and looked at his stuff. Standing up, he grabbed his laptop and, after spending some time taking the modem cord from his older computer and attaching it to the laptop, he waited for it to start up and walked over to beneath his skylight, staring up at the early morning sky. Hazy, dark clouds brushed over the sky as the wind rose. 'A storm is coming,' he thought and returned to his computer. After connecting to the Internet-- Modem muted so as not to wake up the boarders-- he went to MSN and stared at the screen. Feeling a little experimental, he clicked on one of the chats, which happened to be specially for Hillwood. A screen leapt up. "You are a guest. When you enter the chat, type /name and what you want your new name to be." Java loaded and then the chat appeared. Only three people were in the room. Neither were chatting so, after a few minutes, Arnold changed his name from "Guest19293565" to "Shortman02" and typed, ~Hi.~ and sent it in. A couple minutes of silence passed and one person finally answered.  
  
-Hey,- PinkVader87 answered.   
  
~Are you from Hillwood?~ he typed and then felt stupid. Of course this person was from Hillwood.  
  
-Yeah, course I am. I'm guessing silent boy is too,- Pink replied again, meaning the non-typist.  
  
~Oh.~  
  
-What about you? Stuck in Hillwood, too?-  
  
~I'm just here for a visit.~  
  
-Oh. How old are you?-  
  
~Fifteen.~  
  
-Me, too.- A pause happened and then Pink typed again.  
  
-I gotta go. Bye.-  
  
PinkVader87 has left.  
  
Arnold shrugged and, shutting down, went to bed himself.  
__________________  
  
The next day, Arnold was curious as to whether that PinkVader87 would be online again and since he didn't have anything to do that afternoon, he decided to get online, too. After logging in, he found his way back to that chat room and, after changing his name to Shortman02 again, was surprised to see that the Hillwood chat was nearly full, with 47 people.  
  
*k, so we;er gonna pair you all up,* Greenleeves98 typed.  
  
=What's the point in it? Not everyone'll wanna go thru,= Petrified74 responded.  
  
+ya, it ain't safe,+ Dah00 agreed.  
  
|Well, who does wanna go through? Whoever doesn't, leave,| Riverofpower07 replied harshly.  
  
Petrified74 has left.  
  
Dah00 has left.  
  
Hideme10 has left.  
  
Pomminate87 has left.  
  
Ponyexpress1634 has left.  
  
|Ok, now. Whart's everyone's ages?| Riverofpower07 wondered.  
  
*finaly, we get to bgin!* Greenleeves was excited.  
  
|*What's| Riverofpower corrected her typo, feeling embarassed.  
  
-Fifteen,- PinkVader answered.  
  
|I'm fifteen, too|  
  
*I'm seventeen*  
  
~I'm fifteen,~ Shortman02 offered.  
  
-Hey, Shortman,- PinkVader typed.  
  
~Hi, PinkVader,~ he answered.  
  
|You two know each other through here all ready? Well, there's an instant pair. You two discuss it through a Private Message,| Riverofpower announced.   
  
-Huh? You think we should meet?- The girl sitting behind a small, black laptop laughed harshly and then paused. -Well, if he wants to.-  
  
Arnold was a little surprised at the speed of this but when PinkVader messaged him, it went kind of fast.   
  
-Ok, First, I want to make sure your on the up and up... What is the nearest meat shop?-  
  
~Green's,~ was the rapid answer.  
  
-Easy,- she bluffed. -What street is your apartment on?-  
  
~Sunset Lane.~  
  
-Ok, so what is the name of the nearest elementary?-  
  
~P.S. 118~  
  
-Ok, you pass. Where do we meet?-  
_____________________  
*A week later*  
  
Arnold had opted to be careful so these two met online for a week before they truly met. On the third day, they agreed to meet the following Sunday so when that day came, Arnold dressed casually in a dark green short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.  
  
As he sat outside of a small hamburger place, he looked around for a girl with medium-length blonde hair and blue eyes. He suddenly felt the hair on his neck rise a little when he heard the voice of Helga Pataki, which hadn't changed much through the six years that had passed. Slumping down, he hid himself until suddenly a finger tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked up, he was surprised to see a girl who looked like an older Cecile, blonde hair flowing over her face and an orange dress with just the right amount of make-up. "He-hello," he stammered, enraptured all of a sudden. The fear from hearing Helga's voice was gone instantly.  
  
"Are you in there?" she asked suddenly, disguising her voice, trying to attract his attention.  
  
Arnold blinked and nodded, "Yeah! Uh. Here, sit down," he offered, pulling her chair out, as if they were back at the French restuarant again.   
  
She nodded and sat down, looking over at the menu. "So your name is...?"  
  
"Arnold. And you...?"  
  
"Oh, uh. Er. It's Cecile." She immediately wanted to slap herself as her conscience cried, "You're Helga!!! You are not Cecile!"  
  
Arnold gasped. "Cecile? I knew I'd see you again," he said happily. "Where have you been all these years?"  
  
"Oh, heh-heh," she whispered, "I've been-- ah-- here and there, you know," she said lamely.  
  
"Oh," he said, wondering about that.   
  
The waiter walked up then, long brown hair blowing in the late evening wind. "What would you like to order?" he asked dully, holding a small writing pad in his left hand.  
  
"Uh... I'd like a cheeseburger with just ketchup, please," Arnold requested.  
  
"I'd like a hamburger with everything," "Cecile" announced, "err, please."  
  
"Drinks?"  
  
"Just a Sevenup."  
  
"Root beer!" "Cecile" announced, handing the menu back to him and turning back to Arnold, smiling brightly. "So, uh. Arnold. Where have /you/ been all these years?"  
  
"I went to live with my parents but I still come back every summer for a visit," he smiled.  
  
"Oh! Your parents? Why didn't you live with them before?"  
  
"They were missing in Central America."  
  
"I see."  
  
As dinner continued on, the two talked almost sparingly but it was a fairly comfortable silence. There was one thing Arnold noticed: Cecile could act a lot like Helga at times. Thinking nothing of it, he continued eating but then Helga's cell phone went off. In the haste to answer it, she knocked a small purse off of the table. He smiled and leaned down to pick her stuff up while she talked with whomever. As he grabbed papers and such, he noticed a library card sticking against the wall. Picking it up, he noticed the name /wasn't/ Cecile's after all, but Helga G Pataki. Densely, he tried to think of an explanation. 'Well, Helga was here-- I heard her voice-- she might have just dropped this... It might not be Cecile's...' He looked up and locked eyes with the blonde in front of him, who suddenly looked nervous.  
  
"Err, I gotta let you go now... No, Phoebes," she slipped, eyes widening, "everything's ok."  
  
Arnold sat onto his chair and waited as she fumbled with her phone, putting it in a small pocket. "Helga?" he asked, when she was done.  
  
"Err... Yeah?" she whispered, knowing she was caught.  
  
"Wh-- What... You've been 'Cecile' this whole time?"  
  
"Ye- Yeah." She looked a little ashamed-- mainly because she had been caught. Suddenly, she stood up and, grabbing her library card off of the table, ran out of the outside burger restuarant, leaving a bewildered Arnold behind. Running home, she didn't notice losing a shoe again, tripping painfully all the way home. Opening the door, she slammed it behind her and rushed upstairs, slamming her bedroom door, too, leaning against it. Wearily, she threw her purse against the wall and fell into bed, shaking her head.  
  
Below her window, the average sized blonde haired boy stared up at the glass window that stood between him and her. Pre-set, the sun glowed bright orange and flashed against the windows as the tri-light caused the sky to be covered in purple, red and yellow, vibriantly. He stayed down there until the only light on in Helga's bedroom was turned off.  
_________________  
  
The next day, after a fairly light night of sleep, Arnold walked over to the Patakis, dressed in clothes much like yesterday, just with a darker shirt. After waiting outside her door for a few minutes, he noticed it was noon and knocked on the door.  
  
"Oh, uh, just a min-ute!" Miriam yelled, walking towards the door. She then got distracted and turned back at the sound of a pot of coffee overboiling on the stove. When she finally remembered the door minutes later, she rushed to it and flung it open. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, slinging around a cup of coffee. "I have one of those older coffee thing and if..." she paused suddenly. "Are you here to sale something?"  
  
Arnold's head almost swirled from her constant subject changing. "Er, no. I'm just here to see Helga."  
  
"Oh. Ok then. HELGA! A boy is here to see you." No answer came from this and Miriam turned back, "Well, why don't you go on to her room? She might be busy."  
  
Arnold felt a little nervous at this but he agreed. As he walked up the stairs, he heard Big Bob yelling at a wrestler on the TV.  
  
"C'mon, give him the ol' one-two! Nooo! Not a body slam!... You FOOL!"  
  
Arnold continued on and paused outside of Helga's room. "Uh... Helga?" No answer. He knocked. Still nothing. Curious, he opened her door slowly and looked in the dark room, finally spotting Helga, asleep on her bed. She was still wearing the clothes from the night before and, as he stepped closer, he realized she looked very peaceful and sweet in her sleep. He was reluctant to wake her up but a part of him wanted to do it, just to talk with her. Finally, he walked nearer and rubbed a strand of golden hair from her face, surprised at the softness of the hair and face.  
  
She started to stir, groaning a little against the glow of the noon-day sun that was shining right on her bed, her face, blinding her. Opening her eyes wearily, she tried to stare through the brightness but couldn't tell anything except that someone was standing in front of her bed, staring down at her. "Who's there?" she whispered, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"I-It's me, Helga," Arnold spoke up, smiling though he knew she couldn't see his face clearly.  
  
"Arnold! Who-- Who let you in here?" she demanded, sitting up.  
  
"Your mom," he said. "If it-- If you don't want-- I can leave," he suggested, guessing she felt uncomfortable about last night still.  
  
"Uh... Wait a sec, Football Head."  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, turning back from the door.  
  
"We... Uh... might as well talk about it while we have a minute to ourselves." She looked suddenly shy and nervous, running her hands over the pink sheets that covered her bed.  
  
"Ok." He sat down next to her and smiled briefly.  
  
"Err. Well. Do you remember.... that summer when I... err... You.... saved the city?"  
  
"Yeah," he said.  
  
"Good." Suddenly, she sat up and neared him, her eyes sparkling brightly. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her hands around his face and kissed him gently.  
  
Shock kept him from moving for a minute but finally he pulled her closer and kissed her back.  
  
The end... or just the beginning... 


End file.
